However, the actor told New York Magazine: "Anything can happen. It's a very complex show. Very multilayered. And even the most absurd thing is believable."

Bean added that he is feeling "a twinge of envy" that filming on the show's second season will soon begin without him.

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"They're about to start up again [and] the saga gets to go on without me," he said. "I'm doing something else now, but sometimes I go, 'Aw, s**t, bring me back'."

Bean also suggested that Ned's death will allow other characters, such as Robb Stark (Richard Madden), to take on a larger role.

"Someone else is going to have to take his place," he said. "Once he's imprisoned, for instance, his son Robb has to take control. [But] Ned was very much needed, and he's the last person you want to see disappear."

The second season of Game of Thrones will begin filming on Monday, July 25.